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James Davis (escaped convict)

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For other people named James Davis, see James Davis (disambiguation).
James Davis
Duramboi, an 1893 portrait by Oscar Fristrom
Born
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Baptised2 August 1807
DiedMay 7, 1889(1889-05-07) (aged 80–81)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Burial placeToowong Cemetery, Queensland
Other namesDuramboi
Occupation(s)Blacksmith
Shopkeeper
Spouse(s)Annie Shea (1846 - 1882)
Bridget Hayes (m. 1883)

James Davis (also known as Duramboi;[a] baptised 2 August 1807 – 7 May 1889) was a Scottish-born convict notable for escaping custody in Australia and living with Aboriginals for thirteen years.

He assimilated into the native culture and lived as a Kabi Kabi man until his location by Andrew Petrie in 1842. Davis subsequently rejoined Western society and worked as a blacksmith, shopkeeper and interpreter.

Early life and education

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James Davis was born in Glasgow, Scotland,[4][5] to blacksmith[6][4] Walter Davis and his wife Mary McGrigor. On 2 August 1807, he was christened James Davie in Strathblane.[7][8]

He grew up in Broomielaw, and at 14 he was apprenticed to his father at the Old Wynd.[5][2][6]

Conviction

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Sources differ on the reasons for Davis's conviction and the identity of the vessel which transported him to Australia. This confusion is because two different British men named James Davis were convicted and sentenced to transportation in 1824. Both arrived in Australia in August 1825.[9]

According to Wargandilla, Davis himself had given two conflicting stories of his conviction: "One was [for] appropriating half a crown from a church plate, and the other was for a crime of which he was quite innocent".[3] According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Davis was convicted for stealing 2 shillings 6 pence (half a crown) from a church box.[5]

Surrey

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On 19 July 1824 in Surrey, "James Davis" was sentenced to seven years transportation. He arrived in New South Wales on the ship Norfolk on 18 August 1825.[10][5] Upon his arrival, he was described as a 19-year-old dark-haired Londoner who had worked as a carter.[9]

Glasgow

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On 29 September 1824 in Glasgow, "James Davis" was sentenced to fourteen years transportation. He had pleaded guilty to "the offence of theft, habit and repute". In late October, he was one of 11 male prisoners received at Calton Hill Gaol in Edinburgh.[9]

"The eleven convicts belonging to Glasgow, before leaving the prison, were each presented with a pocket Bible, a collection of Tracts, and a catechism, neatly stitched. The delivery of the Bibles and Tracts was prefaced by a most impressive and feeling address from the Rev. James Morrison, chaplain of the prison."

— The Edinburgh Advertiser, 9 November 1824[9]

He arrived in New South Wales on the Minstrel on 22 August 1825. Upon his arrival, he was described as a 17-year-old Glaswegian cattle boy with blond hair.[9]

When the "Darumboi" James Davis was eventually transferred to Moreton Bay, he was recorded as having arrived on the Norfolk. However, he was also described as a blond Glaswegian, which indicates he was the individual who arrived on the Minstrel.[9] This is supported by articles in The Telegraph and Truth - seemingly based on interviews with Davis himself - that claim he was transported on the Minstrel.[11][3][b]

In Australia

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Commandant Patrick Logan

In 1828 he was tried for robbery at Patrick's Plains and was sentenced to three years imprisonment at the Moreton Bay penal settlement (now Brisbane, Queensland). Davis arrived at the penal settlement on 6 February 1829.[10][5][2] The settlement's commandant, strict disciplinarian Patrick Logan, was notorious for his excessive use of the lash.[5][12][3] Indeed, Logan's punishments were so extreme that certain convicts at the settlement committed murder with the intention of getting themselves hanged; preferring death to further lashing.[13][11] Around 500 convicts would ultimately abscond from Moreton Bay.[14][15]

As "Duramboi"

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On 30 March 1829, Davis escaped northward with a companion,[5][13][2] possibly convict John Downie.[1] Apparently neither of the men had suffered punishment - it has been suggested that either the fear of being murdered or possible future lashings is what led them to abscond.[11][16][2]

The duo first came across Aboriginal people when they reached Sandgate[3] - possibly the Doomgalbarah people, who they stayed with for 12 months.[17] The tribe passed them along to Toorbul Point, then to the Mary River.[3] They soon joined the Ginginbarrah people (now known as the Kabi Kabi) of Wide Bay.[c] The Ginginbarrah leader Pamby-Pamby believed Davis was his reincarnated dead son Duramboi, and accepted him into the tribe as "an honoured guest".[5][2][11] Not long after, Davis's companion broke tribal law by desecrating an Aboriginal grave - removing the deceased's remains from a basket in a tree in order to carry oysters - and was killed.[2][11][1]

Shortly after, Davis accidentally killed his adoptive mother's pet dog. The woman persuaded Pamby-Pamby to kill Davis. At first Pamby-Pamby was not indisposed to do so. He accused Davis of being not his son but a "mawgooy" (ghost), and threatened to have him killed. In response, Davis gave Pamby-Pamby "such a merciless drubbing with his fists that he not only subdued his murderous intentions but induced him to forgive the death of his pet dog".[2][11] Davis was "a specially dutiful son ever afterwards".[3]

Natives of the Ginginbarrah tribe

Davis stayed with the Ginginbarrah for 12 months.[12] He eventually travelled hundreds of miles from Brisbane and learned the languages and customs of many tribes.[5][2] All of these tribes treated him as a reincarnated Aboriginal man. For each tribe, Davis would assume the identity of a recently deceased tribesman, but over time these lies became increasingly difficult to maintain. On the occasions that Davis wasn't "recognised", he would claim he had forgotten his name after his "death".[2][6]

He eventually settled back with the Ginginbarrah people and his adoptive father Pamby-Pamby.[19][12][15] He was allotted a flat named Toon about eight miles off the Mary River.[12][11]

Davis completely adopted the habits of his newfound culture. He dressed in little clothing and could navigate the bush as easily as his colleagues.[10][3] He also partook in traditional scarification. By 1842, Davis's chest was tattooed with parallel horizontal scars, and he had scars of old wounds in his backs and legs.[11][20]

In 1879, an Aboriginal man from Pialba claimed that Davis was susceptible to cannibalism.[3]

Location by Andrew Petrie

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On 12/13 May 1842, Davis was found by tradesman and explorer Andrew Petrie in Wide Bay, amongst the Ginginbarrah tribe.[5][2][12] Petrie's party was travelling northwards from Brisbane. They had recently located another convict escapee named David Bracewell (known as Wandi) in Noosa, who had spent seven years amongst the Aboriginals.[2][21][11][3] Petrie had heard from Aboriginals on Fraser Island that another white man was living in the bush.[3]

Explorer and tradesman Andrew Petrie located Davis in 1842

Petrie and his party planned to bring Davis back to Western society. Bracewell and an Aboriginal man from Moreton Bay managed to sneak into the Ginginbarrah encampment unnoticed. Then two of Petrie's men, armed with guns, went towards the encampment to secure Davis. The operation was so risky that the men were promised improved conditions if successful.[2]

The Ginginbarrah people were vengeful of the party of Western men, as over fifty Ginginbarrah had recently suffered from a mass poising in Kilcoy.[22][19][3]

Bracewell and the Moreton Bay native were recognised and received by the Ginginbarrah. The two convicts were spotted from a distance, prompting the natives to prepare to spear them. Bracewell and Davis communicated and managed to convince the Ginginbarrah to spare the two convicts.[2]

Petrie persuaded Davis to accept that it was safe to return to Brisbane with the cessation of transportation.[5] Once assured of his freedom, Davis ran towards the convicts and surrendered. Davis accused Bracewell of betraying him to mitigate his own sentence. Bracewell, enraged, began singing a war song, causing Davis to rush off towards Petrie's party.[2][3] Finally Davis became calm and agreed to leave with Petrie next day.[3]

The next morning, Davis boarded the whale boat and left with the party. According to Wargandilla, "blacks in hundreds followed along the bank of the river, walked out on projecting trees and rocks and called their farewells to Davis, who... told them the awful sorrow he felt at leaving them, the joyous days he had spent in their company, his undying love for his father and mother, and all the other superb exaggerations made necessary in the diplomacy of that critical occasion".[3]

"I shall never forget his appearance when he arrived in our camp – a white man in a state of nudity, and actually a wild man of the woods; his eyes wild and unable to rest a moment on any one object. He had quite the same manner and gestures that the wildest blacks have got. He could not speak his 'mither's tongue,' as he called it. He could not pronounce English for some time, and when he did attempt it, all he could say was a few words, and those were often misapplied, breaking off abruptly in the middle of a sentence with the black gibberish, which he spoke very fluently. During the whole of our conversation his eyes and manner were completely wild, looking at us as if he had never seen a white man before. In fact, he told us he had forgotten all about the society of white men, and had forgotten all about his friends and relations for years past, and had I or someone else not brought him from among those savages he would never have left them."

— Andrew Petrie's diary[2]

Though Davis could speak up to five Aboriginal languages,[19] he had forgotten the English language, and "could only tell his name and place".[10] Petrie and his group were the first white people Davis had seen since he had encountered Bracewell around 1832.[10][21]

According to a contemporary report by The Australian, Davis "was naked, besmeared and cut the same as the natives. He is equally as expert in climbing a tree, [etc], as they are. Both [Davis and Bracewell] can give much information to the Government, and as they have been the means of saving the lives of Mr. Petrie and party, I doubt not but they will receive their free pardons."[10]

Davis outside his crockery store on George Street, c. 1872

Davis relearned English and gradually fitted back into Western society.[5] He was made to serve out the remainder of his sentence as a blacksmith for the police. In 1844, he was recommended for a ticket of leave.[19]

Not long after he returned to the Western world, Davis gave a recollection of his life to historian John Dunmore Lang. Though initially open to discussing his life in the bush, in later life Davis would "snappishly" refuse to describe his experiences.[12][2][19]

Reintegration with Western society

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Davis became employed by land commissioner Stephen Simpson. Later he became a blacksmith at Kangaroo Point. In 1864 he established a crockery shop in George Street.[5][2][11] He retired from working at his shop some months before his death.[6] He also briefly worked as a colonial expedition guide.[2][19][3]

He occasionally worked as an court interpreter for Aboriginal people.[5][2] According to Fred Campbell of Moreton Bay, Davis often manipulated the words of his Aboriginal clients for his own benefit.[3] In 1866 he unsuccessfully petitioned the governor to raise his salary to the standards of other interpreters. Davis also gave some descriptions of Aboriginal rites, with the exception of one apparently obscene ceremony.[5]

Davis is the subject of a 1893 painting titled "Duramboi" by Swedish artist Oscar Fristrom.[23][18]

Personal life

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During his time in the bush, Davis had a son with an Aboriginal woman named Caleeraba. Their son was known as Calarga (meaning "the sparrow hawk") or Daybee.[3]

On 3 November 1846, Davis married Annie Shea; she died in 1882. On 28 July 1883 he married Irish-born widow Bridget Hayes.[5][2]

Death

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Davis's grave in Toowong Cemetery, 2024. The gravestone has since fallen over and cracked.

On 30 April 1889 in Burnett Lane, Davis was assaulted by his wife Bridget. A doctor ordered his removal to a Brisbane hospital.[24][25][26] James Davis died of his injuries on 7 May.[5][10] He is buried in Toowong Cemetery.[10]

Bridget was arrested for manslaughter. She was later found not guilty and consequently discharged.[24][25][26]

According to Davis's obituary in The Brisbane Courier, "his career included some of the strangest experiences that have ever fallen, perhaps, to any man in this colony, and are on a par with those of the once famous "Crusoe" of Victoria".[6]

Davis died a wealthy man.[9] Under his will, he donated £750 in 1889 and £1100 in 1911 to the Brisbane General Hospital.[5] Though he was baptised in the Church of Scotland,[8] Davis was a Catholic and in his will he gave a substantial bequest to St Stephens' Cathedral.[9]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Also spelt Darumboy,[1] Durrumboi, Derhamboi,[2] Tharumboi or Thurimby.[3]
  2. ^ An article in The Week erroneously claims he was convicted at Surrey and transported on the Minstrel.[2]
  3. ^ QAGOMA believe they were the Badtjala people.[18]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c O'Keeffe 1976, p. 66.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Durrumboi or Davis - Close of a Remarkable Career - Fourteen Years with the Blacks". The Week. 11 May 1889. p. 14. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Wargandilla (30 July 1905). ""DURAMBOI" - JAMES DAVIS - THE WILD WHITE MAN". Truth. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b Jackson, Ernest Sandford (16 December 1924). "MEN WHO WENT BUSH". The Daily Mail. Brisbane. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Laurie, Arthur (1966). "Davis, James (1808 - 1889)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Death of an old identity". Brisbane Courier. 9 May 1889. p. 6. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  7. ^ Daly, Eric Harry. "James Davies {Davis]". Convict Records. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b Baptism Record (1807)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h B, Karen (8 June 2019). "Convict Runaways. James "Duramboi" Davis". Moreton Bay and More. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "James Davis, convict Queenslander". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sparks, H. J. J. (10 August 1937). "CONVICTS WHO WENT NATIVE". The Telegraph. Brisbane, Queensland. p. 9. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e f O'Keeffe 1976, p. 65.
  13. ^ a b O'Keeffe 1976, p. 64.
  14. ^ O'Keeffe 1976.
  15. ^ a b Living with the locals - James Davis (Video). ABC Indigenous. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ O'Keeffe 1976, p. 64, 65.
  17. ^ O'Keeffe 1976, p. 64–65.
  18. ^ a b "Oscar Friström - Duramboi 1893". QAGOMA. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f "'Duramboi'". Australian Geographic. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Aboriginal Scarification". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  21. ^ a b O'Keeffe 1976, p. 63, 64.
  22. ^ Langevad, Gerry (1980). "The Kilcoy massacre : an ethnohistorical exercise". The University of Queensland. The University of Queensland. doi:10.14264/328090. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  23. ^ McFarlane, Kyla (3 October 2017). "We use art to question what we know". QAGOMA. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  24. ^ a b "DEATH OF DAVIS". The Telegraph. 10 May 1889. p. 4.
  25. ^ a b "COLONIAL TELEGRAMS BRISBANE". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser. 10 May 1889. p. 2.
  26. ^ a b "CRIMINAL JURISDICTION - Before Sir Charles Lilley, Chief Justice. MANSLAUGHTER". The Week. 31 August 1889. p. 25.

Sources

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Further reading

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News articles

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See also

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